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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. press — to push
  4. swing — in golf
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. present — there
  7. press — a publisher
  8. swing — music
  9. ground — crushed
  10. mine — for digging
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. present — a gift
  13. content — happy
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. content — the amount
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. present — the time now
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cell — in biology
  22. ground — a position
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. press — newspapers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com